HAYWARD — The Hayward school board held a lengthy, but relatively calm, meeting Wednesday, in sharp contrast to its past two sessions.

In August, the board adjourned its meeting abruptly before any action was taken, as trustees talked over and interrupted each other during the brief session. And board members bickered again throughout their last meeting two weeks ago.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the focus was more on district business. The board heard updates about enrollment figures and the final budget numbers for 2011-12. And two of this year’s new student board members, Nadia Faraj of Hayward High and Antonio Isais of Mount Eden High, gave their first updates to the board on activities on their campuses. Several high school students sat in on the beginning of the meeting for the presentations.

Superintendent Donald Evans told the board that enrollment, which stands at 20,451 students, is above projections, although still declining.

Enrollment has been dropping for years, and the district had projected enrollment would decline by 200 students this year.

“We had an overall gain of 24 students” above projections, he said.

Elementary schools were 247 students over projection, with 12,474 enrolled. Middle schools had an increase of 119 students, at 3,173. However, the number of high school students was 242 under projections, at 4,785.

The financial picture presented Wednesday was mixed.

The district ended 2011-12 on the positive side, Assistant Superintendent Stanley Dobbs said. The general fund had an ending balance of $285,000.

On Thursday, Luci Rogers, director of business support services, noted, “Our expenses did not exceed revenue for the second year in a row.”

However, the district is facing a projected deficit this year of $6.4 million, and that could be even higher if voters fail to approve the governor’s tax proposal, Proposition 30, she said.

“If Prop. 30 doesn’t pass, we stand to lose $8.5 million this year,” Rogers said. “Instead of a projected $6.4 million, we would face a $14.9 million deficit.

One of the main reasons the district is operating at a deficit is loss of revenue from the state.

“The last time we got the full amount we were entitled to was in 2007-08,” Rogers said.

“From 2008-09 to 2011-12, there’s a combined total of $87 million that we have not received,” she added.

Both Dobbs and Rogers said the district continues to look at ways to cut expenses and increase revenue. The state reimburses the district for the number of students who are attending class.

“We have more than 20,000 students in our schools, and we run around 95 percent attendance,” Rogers said. “One way to help revenue is to increase that percentage.”

Rebecca Parr is the city editor for the Oakland Tribune and Hayward Daily Review. She previously covered the Hayward area as a reporter. She has worked in many Bay Area newsrooms and does not miss the commute.

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